Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) to Human Beings and Living Organisms

Book Review : Biological Effects of Microwaves by S Baranski and P Czerski

I have been invited to deliver a few lectures on Electromagnetic Interference and Electromagnetic Compatibility abbreviated as EMI / EMC. I have decided to speak on the topic of Electromagnetic Pollution (or Electropollution) and Bioelectromagnetics.This gives me a chance to brush up my rusty knowledge and let me begin by going through a few book reviews I had written earlier when I used to regularly teach this subject at the Post Graduate Level and conduct specialized training programs on EMI / EMC too during my faculty days at IAT now known as DIAT Deemed University and MILIT located in the hills of Girinagar near PuneSo, Dear Reader, in case you are interested in this topic of Electromagnetic Pollution and its manifestations, do read on:BOOK REVIEW

Biological Effects of Microwaves by S Baranski and P Czerski

(A seminal reference book on Bioelectromagnetics and Electropollution Effects on Human Beings and Living Organisms)

Electromagnetic Radiations emanating from various communication systems and devices like Radio and TV broadcasting antennas, satellite communication, cell phone and mobile phone transmitters and transmission towers, microwave ovens and electrical and electronic appliances have now become an unavoidable area of our life.

Today, especially in modern urban life, we are surrounded by electromagnetic radiation.

Microwaves constitute a significant part of electromagnetic radiations and contribute to “electro-pollution” as research indicates that microwaves affect living organisms.

The book ‘Biological Effects of Microwaves’ by S. Baranski and P. Czerski presents the detailed research work done in this field and is one of the earliest books on the subject.

It will prove helpful for the biologists, physicians, physicists as well as budding and practicing electronic and electrical engineers.

The content of the book is organized in seven chapters.

Chapter number one is the ‘introduction’ with the subject.

At the beginning of this chapter the authors make our concepts clear about the important terms like microwave radiation, ionizing radiation, non ionizing radiation and radio-protection.

Before dealing with the microwaves we must know about the electromagnetic radiation spectrum.

There are figures, illustrations and tables describing the electromagnetic radiation spectrum, the wavelengths (cm), energy (eV) of different waves like radio-frequencies microwaves, visible light, UltraViolet Rays, X rays and Gamma rays and explaining some examples of typical uses of equipment generating radio-frequency and microwave radiation.

This chapter explains the uses of different ranges of frequencies, their respective applications, their occupational exposure and some examples of potential exposure (i.e. general population hazards).

This chapter also explains the theory and working of various microwave transmitter valves such as magnetron, klystron – Reflex Klystron and multi-cavity Klystron and Travelling Wave Tube (TWT) briefly with their schematic representations.

The second chapter is about the ‘Physical Characteristics of Microwaves’.

This chapter is designed in such a fashion that the reader who wants to enter in this field but have forgotten some of the basic concepts of physics related to the microwaves.

This chapter is important and helpful to grasp the further concepts.

It includes the basic phenomenon of formation of electromagnetic wave, set of parameters that characterize the electromagnetic waves such as frequency, velocity, wavelength, Electric and magnetic field vectors, relation between the two and the characteristic impedance.

Coaxial transmission line, coaxial cable and wave guide are also explained to understand how the waves are propagated.

After getting introduced with the microwaves and going through their physical characteristics, in the third chapter we study the interaction of microwaves with the living systems.

Biologists and physicians studied the interaction of microwaves with the living systems and they came to the result which had three phenomena like penetration of microwaves into a biological target and their propagation within it, secondly the primary interaction of microwaves with living matter and the secondary effects induced by the primary interaction.

The three layered semi-infinite slab model of a biological target (which is made up of skin, fat and muscle) illuminated by simple wave front is explained and may be used for solving various problems relative to the medical use of shortwave and microwave diathermy.

In the later subsections primary and secondary effects of microwave interaction are studied.

There are illustrations of the primary and secondary effects of microwaves on different levels of organizations ranging from molecular level to highly organized living systems.

The fourth and the most praiseworthy chapter of this book is titled ‘Biological effects of Microwaves (Experimental Data)’.

It presents the collection data found in literature on experimental facts and observations on biological effects of microwaves.

Various results of experiments done on different animals like mice, dog, rats, guinea pigs and cat are illustrated.

In the last section of the chapter some comments on experimental studies on the interaction of microwaves with living systems are done which are very useful while doing such experiments.

Chapter Five is about the ‘health status of personnel occupationally exposed to microwaves and the symptoms of microwave overexposure’.

In this chapter the outcome experiments and conclusions of literature survey of various authors are given. At the end of the chapter the main points which are the outcome of all the survey of the literature are collected.

Microwaves are the boon for the mankind and improve our quality of life in so many ways and it is prudent to be aware of the hazards and adopt safety standards to protect ourselves as well as the environment form the adverse effects of microwaves.

Chapter Six is about the ‘Safe exposure limits and prevention of health hazards’ with analysis on the safe exposure limits of microwaves.

The basic principles which may be used while determining the safe exposure limits are elucidated.

At the end of the chapter suggestions for prevention of health hazards are given which are very much important while dealing with the microwaves.

The seventh and last chapter of the book summarizes the work presented in the previous chapters and the important developments in the field till the writing of this book.

The authors have done extensive literature survey for this book and cite more than 600 references which may prove helpful for the reader for further studies in this subject.

This book was published in 1976.

Though not a recent publication, this book is a seminal work and an important book of reference literature in the area of bioelectromagnetics and will prove useful for those who are doing research in this field.

About Me

A creative person with a zest for
life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated
at IIT Delhi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School
Pune, Vikram has published two books:COCKTAILa collection of fiction short stories about relationships
(2011) andAPPETITE FOR A STROLLa
book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel, writing short fiction and compiling his memoirs. An avid
blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative
non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, books, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories, self help and art of living essays in magazines and journals and published a number of professional research papers and reviews and edited in-house magazines and journals for many years, before the advent
of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to
creative writing and blogging. Vikram Karve lives in Pune India with his family and muse -
his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative
thoughts.